1997 AGN MAY 06 I09 - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY OF COLTON DUPLICATE AGENDA REPORT FOR COUNCIL MEETING OF MAY S, 1997 TO: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers APPROVAL: Malik Freeman, City Manager FROM: Anna A. Vega, Finance Director Q�_X�� SUBJECT: Community Services Department Contract Pledging Direct Deposit Payments for Low Income Utility Households. DATE: April 8, 1997 BACKGROUND Over the years the City -Utility Division has accepted payments from federal and state assistance programs. These payments are on behalf of low-income households who are falling short on their utility payments. One of those programs is the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP). This is federally funded and assists with heating and cooling costs only. The second is Community Services Department (CSD). This state program handles the Energy Crisis Intervention Program (ECIP) which administers payments for emergency utility assistance. DISCUSSIONIANALYSIS This year CSD changed the manner of processing their utility assistance payments. This change consisted of the checks issued by Sacramento now going directly to the utility customer. Previously they were mailed to the City directly. Due to this change, staff elected to stop accepting pledges from CSD for utility customers. It was determined that there was uncertainty whether the City would receive the check that was pledged by CSD and mailed to the customer. However, staff has worked with CSD to find an alternative solution. It was determined that payments can be re-established through a wire transfer directly to the City's bank account. There are currently sixteen California utility companies participating in the direct payment process. They are: City of Pasadena, City of Riverside and Southern California Edison, to mention a few. Since the implementation of the direct payment process, the participating utility companies have reported: 1. Decrease in lobby traffic 2. Reduced banking costs due to the reduction in the number of HEAP and ECIP checks processed. Item # 9